The geographically-separated animal facilities of Tulane Medical Center (TMC) are associated with two administrative units; the School of Medicine (Vivarium and satellite facilities) and the Delta Regional Primate Research Center, each of which is AAALAC-accredited and has an acceptable Animal Welfare Assurance filed with NIH. The significance of the animal resource at TMC is represented by an annual budget of nearly $13 million for 216 research projects involving use of laboratory animals. In order to fulfill the basic objective of continued AAALAC accreditation, and to provide real assurance of compliance with stricter federal guidelines, it is evident veterinary professional staff. This application addresses specifically the need for centralized facilities to more fully accommodate the investigators and projects in this unit. The specific aims of this proposal involve three renovation projects: 1) expansion, modernization, and re-equipping of the existing Vivarium experimental surgery area; 2) renovation of newly- acquired space adjacent to the Vivarium to create five new animal rooms plus office space for administrative and supervisory staff; and 3) renovation of space in the existing incinerator area to create an equipment storage room. The proposed surgical suite renovation will expand upon the existing two-room surgery (essentially unchanged since constructed in 1955) to create a limited-access, 2200 square-foot facility with a two-procedure major operating room; a neurosurgery; several minor procedure rooms; plus additional required areas for surgery support and recovery. The other two projects will provide space for functions displaced by the surgical suite expansion, while adding five new, much-needed animal rooms. The proposed renovations are part of an ongoing planning process for expansion of animal resources at TMC, a process which already has resulted in several large-room subdivisions (to improve efficiency of space utilization), and initial planning for construction of an off-site facility to accomodate farm animal species and provide a holding facility for dogs.